Welcome
During International Days and major international conferences there is a special opportunity to serve in
the creation of a more unified and compassionate world.
As meditators we can symbolically stand together with all actively working in the spirit of the Charter of Compassion, and hold these events in the light of a Higher Wisdom.
Millennium Goals & Climate Change
These International Days and events reflect important themes in the mobilization of energies to:
- fulfill the historic promise made by world leaders in 1999 to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, halving extreme poverty
- to respond appropriately to the urgent needs of climate change
- and to engage people of goodwill all over the world in the process of defining new Sustainable Development Goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals that expire in 2015.
2015 United Nations International Years
- International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies
- International Year of Soils
Silence at the United Nations
The Spiritual Caucus at the United Nations gathers in the vicinity of UN Headquarters in New York (September - June) on the third Thursday every month for 30 minutes of silence followed by 30 minutes of dialogue, sharing insights and exploring ways to use an inner focus in service of the work of the UN. On the 1st Thursday of the month the Caucus invites friends to sit in silence for 30 minutes. Traditionally a gathering has been held in the Meditation Room in the public lobby of UN Headquarters in New York, but during the major redevelopment of the UN building in NY the Meditation Room is closed so on this first Thursday all are invited to hold the Meditation Room in the light and ponder its significance.NB The Meditation Room renovation is now almost complete.
Please link in from wherever you are. More information at: http://www.spiritualcaucusun.org/
In February the Spiritual Caucus invites all to link subjectively on Thursday, 5th, 12:45 - 1:15 USA Eastern Daylight Time. Please also link with the full meeting on Thursday, February 19 at 1.15 PM EDT.
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February Please Hold These Events in the Light
January 15 - February 23
Winter Feast for the Soul
Starting on January 15, people around the world from different spiritual paths are invited to join their intention for personal and planetary peace by comitting to forty minutes of spiritual practice each day for forty days. Although the Feast marks the Northern Winter participants are from northern and southern hemispheres.
We hold a vision of a world at peace that surpasses the imagined boundaries of creed, culture, and philosophical beliefs.We embrace all spiritual traditions and organizations in a synchronized period of practice where we become part of a shared dream for a consciousness of oneness and peace on our planet.
winterfeastforthesoul.com
February 1 - 7
World Interfaith Harmony Week
In November 2010, following a proposal by HM King Abdullah II and HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe the first week of February every year as World Interfaith Harmony Week. The resolution recognized that the moral imperatives of all religions, convictions and beliefs call for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, and it reaffirmed that mutual understanding and inter religious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace.
Numerous events will be held to observe the Week around the world. On Friday February 6, the President of the UN General Assembly will join with the Committee of Religious Organizations at the UN to host a special event honoring the Week on the theme: Multi Religious Partnership for Sustainable Development. Individuals and groups are welcome to attend - reservation, which must be completed by Tuesday Feb 3, at: http://bit.ly/PGA-6Feb-Interfaith-Harmony .
worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com
www.un.org/en/events/
February 2
World Wetlands Day
2015 Theme: Wetlands for Our Future
The Future of Humanity depends on Wetlands. They purify and replenish our water, and provide the fish and rice that feed billions. Wetlands act as a natural sponge against flooding and drought, and protect our coastlines. They burst with biodiversity, and are a vital means of storing carbon
On February 2,1971 an intergovernmental treaty, The Ramsar Convention, was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar. It commits member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories. It is the only environmental treaty governing a particular ecosystem.
www.worldwetlandsday.org
February 4
Full Moon — Aquarius
Since ancient times human beings have honored the full moon as a time when the sacred is most accesible. It is a time of light - the moon reflects the light of the sun onto the face of the earth. In astrology this is a time when the qualities and potentials of the zodiacal sign of the sun are especially available to humanity for use in service.
During the full moon religious and esoteric groups around the world use the opportunities of this time to vizualize light and love and spiritual power flowing into humanity and strengthening all that is being done to help prepare the way for a world of unity, justice and peace; a world in which the Millenium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved.
www.lucistrust.org
www.worldservicegroup.com/
February 4
World Cancer Day
2015 Theme: Not Beyond Us
Every year the equivalent of the entire population of Switzerland dies from cancer - two thirds of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Cancer kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and TB combined. It is estimated by the UN's World Health Organisation that between 2005 and 2015, 84 million people will die of cancer without intervention. Research suggests that one-third of all cancer deaths can be avoided by prevention and another third by earthly detection and treatment.
For many cancer patients and their families the disease provides an opportunity to access deep spiritual resources and there are now a wide range of programs in meditation, spiritual development and alternative therapies offered as part of cancer treatment. See, for example, the US government's National Cancer Institute:
www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/. Similar sites are available from major cancer centers in many countries.
www.worldcancerday.org
February 4 - 13
UN Commission for Social Development
2015 theme: Rethinking and strengthening social development in the contemporary world
Following the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen the Commission for Social Development is the major UN body responsible for implementation and follow-up on the Programme of Action agreed to at the Summit. This means that the annual meetings of the Commission in New York provide an important arena for governments and civil society to review progress and develop dialogue around key themes, including poverty eradication, disability, youth, ageing, families.
During the 10 days of the Commission conference rooms at UN Headquarters in New York will be full of events organized by civil society as well as governments.
undesadspd.org
www.ngosocdev.net
February 9 - 10
UN General Assembly High-level Thematic Debate on Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda
This special debate at the UN is one of a variety of measures to stimulate thinking about how the development agenda to be launched in September 2015 will be implemented. Governments will consider how the agenda will be funded, how sustainable technologies will be developed and made available to all and how the capacities needed in societies for a truly transformative development process can be supported. It is a sign that governments at the UN are engaged in negotiating a new set of goals for the future that will be truly transformative.
Subscribe to the excellent monthly UN Newsletter reviewing events in the Sustainable Development Goals process 2015: Time for Action
www.un.org/pga/
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/
February 11 - 12
Youth Assembly at the United Nations
Youth leaders from around the world (ages 16-25) gather every year in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York.
www.faf.org
February 13 - 14
Global Divestment Day
The mass movement for climate action, 350.org, is coordinating a day of actions around the world in support of the movement for institutions, organizations and individuals to divest financial resources from the fossil fuel industry.
www.350.org
February 14
One Billion Rising
1 in 3 women across the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That’s ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Every February, we rise – in hundreds of countries across the world – to show our local communities and the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors most often face. We rise through dance to express joy and community and and celebrate the fact that we have not been defeated by this violence. We rise to show we are determined to create a new kind of consciousness – one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable.
Events around the world.
www.onebillionrising.org
February 7 - 20
UN Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations
In September the major re-focus of the United Nations Development Agenda will take its final form with a Declaration of a set of transformative Sustainable Development Goals to guide and inspire action for the next 15 years. During this negotiation session governments will focus on the Declaration document.
These negotiations are all of enormous significance as a new vision of the future takes its final shape
sustainabledevelopment.un.org
February 20
World Day of Social Justice
The United Nations World Day of Social Justice celebrates the international agreements reached at the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen, 1995.
On this Day governments are called upon to undertake concrete activities towards the goals of poverty eradication, full employment and social integration.
The World Summit in 1995 recognised that social development aims at social justice, solidarity, harmony and equality within and among countries and social justice, equality and equity constitute the fundamental values of all societies.
http://www.un.org/en/events/
February 21
International Mother Language Day
2015 theme: Inclusion in and through education: Language counts
We live in One World, and are all part of One Life. Yet within this unified whole each individual unit is precious and significant. It is essential that cultural diversity be fostered to maintain richness and variety in the human community. At the heart of culture is language.
Each individual's mother language plays a vital role in their health and development: "It is the language of childhood, of intimate family experience and of our social relations". Yet in a world of increasing globalization small language groups find it increasingly difficult to survive.
UNESCO estimates that about half of the approximately 6,000 languages spoken in the world are under threat.
International Mother Language Day promotes linguistic and cultural diversity and multi-lingualism The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
http://www.un.org/en/events/
www.facebook.com/motherlanguageday
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